Spoilage of food has plagued humanity for millennia. Containers for food have evolved from stone to ceramic to metallic to glass to plastic, particularly for single serving consumable foods and beverages.
Shelf life of foods and beverages is affected by oxidation from oxygen molecules within the volume of the container not occupied by the food or beverage (“headspace oxygen”), within the bulk of the container walls (“inherent oxygen”), and permeating through the container walls or closure (“permeated oxygen”). Also the food or beverage itself contains oxygen which equilibrates in the headspace.
U.S. Patent Application Publication US2012100263 discloses a method and system for oxygen molecule scavenging. The system employs a novel terpolymer as the reducing agent for oxygen molecules. The terpolymer is the polymerization product of macrocyclic poly(alkylene dicarboxylate) oligomer, unsaturated functional polymer, and epoxy-functional styrene-acrylate oligomer. This terpolymer is particularly well suited for use in polyester resins.